York Historic Environment Record

Excavation of site of All Saints Fishergate and part of associated cemetery. Also produced evidence for Roman burials and a boundary ditch. Skeletal archive currently at Sheffield University. Sheffield University archive summary: Archaeological excavations on the cemetery of ‘lost’ medieval church of All Saint’s in York were carried out between 2007 and 2008. The Barbican collection contains skeletal remains from 667 individual articulated human skeletons from multiple time periods. Seven individuals date to the Roman period, 547 to the medieval era (between c.11th-14th century AD), and 113 individuals were buried in post-medieval mass graves (c.17th century AD). The majority of those interred in the mass graves were men aged between 15-45 years old, and these burials have parallels to other post-medieval military graves. They likely date to the period of the English Civil Wars, and more precisely may be related to the siege of York in 1644. While the majority of the medieval burials adhered to typical burial practices of the time (buried in supine and extended positions), one burial of a middle-aged woman was noted as being of particular interest. She was buried in a tightly crouched position within the apse of the church. This suggested that she may have been an individual of great importance, such as a church benefactress. It has also been posited that this woman was an anchoress, a deeply religious female hermit, who lived in solitude in a separate cell or hut in the church and provided spiritual guidance and religious advice through a small window in her door. The skeleton of this middle aged woman showed she had suffered from severe and debilitating osteoporosis and syphilis. Based on existing records, it is possible that she may have been a renowned anchoress Lady Isabel German, who lived in All Saint’s Church between AD1428 – 1448. The Barbican collection has been the subject of numerous MSc and PhD research projects. See https://the-past.com/feature/secrets-of-a-secluded-life-updating-the-story-of-the-all-saints-anchoress/ for an updated 2023 article on the 'anchoress' burial following osteoarchaeological analysis by Dr Lauren McIntyre of Oxford Archaeology. Although most of the woman’s skull (other than her lower jaw) was missing due to her grave having been truncated by a later infant burial, the majority of her skeleton was well-preserved, revealing signs that she had suffered from septic arthritis and probably osteoporosis during her life. Some of her remains preserve even more distinctive signs of ill health, however, testifying to a widespread infection that Lauren suggests could have been venereal syphilis. The most characteristic signs of this disease affect the skull, but Lauren has identified gummatous lesions, another diagnostic symptom, on the bones of the woman’s chest and shoulders, both arms, pelvis, legs, and feet. It is possible that this disease, rather than ageing, was also responsible for the woman’s arthritis. Analysis of isotopes – chemical signatures preserved within the woman’s bones and teeth – has shed more light on earlier periods of her life. She was not born within the Vale of York, but appears to have grown up either in the north-west or north-east of England, or possibly the Welsh borders – probably in a rural location, as her lead isotopes indicate that her early years were spent somewhere less polluted. In childhood, the All Saints woman ate only terrestrial meat, which might suggest that she lived somewhere very far inland. This changed in adulthood, however, when fish featured much more prominently in her meals – something that could reflect a change of location, or perhaps increased piety, as such a diet would be in keeping with medieval religious fasting rules. Radiocarbon dating of the All Saints woman produced a rather wide range (albeit one that does overlap with when Lady Isabel was alive), placing the burial in AD 1443-1632. It seems likely that she would have been interred in the earlier part of this range. The church is not thought to have survived long after 1539. See also Lauren McIntyre, Lauren Kancle, Janet Montgomery, Joanna Moore, Darren R Gröcke, and Geoff M Nowell (2022) ‘The All Saints anchoress? An osteobiography’, Medieval Archaeology 66(2): 368-399